Be Our Guest

Did you build tents when you were a child?

I reminisced this week that I had a canopy bed growing up (do they still make canopy beds??)  It had been my mother's as well.  The canopy was hung on little metal pipes/rods on all 4 sides of the full-sized bed, plus it had a strong middle rod that crossed over the bed.  Through the magic of clothes pins and hanging afghans & blankets from those rods, my brother and I could transform my bed into a tent/castle/house/whatever-we-could-dream-of space.  What a fun memory sparked by.....this!

Blankets, and pillows, and furniture - oh my!

Check out this tent built by my sweet friends' children during our visit this week.  They did invite us "in" but we had to decline (as I'm pretty sure none of us fit!)  I was quite impressed, though, and they were thrilled with their end product.  I think it lasted a whole 15 minutes before one child "accidently" messed up part of it....but that's usually the way tents go, right?  Then they moved on to the next joyous activity.  Oh, to have that energy - and creativity!

These kiddos worked (& played) together so well! 
Kristen's Samantha, Mollie's Mattie, & Kristen's Julia & Blaine

p.s. "Be Our Guest" is of course, from Beauty & the Beast.  I highly recommend both the movie version AND the Broadway version.  It was one of the first 2 musicals I saw on Broadway when my family went to NYC for the first time after my high school graduation.